Driving-gearing.



Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

DRIVING GEARING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1012.

(1. B. F. AHLM 6: G. E. CUCHRAN.

UNTTED STATES PAT orrion.

I CHARLES E. F. AHLIM AND CLYDE E. COCHRAN, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNORS, BY

MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE ELWELL-PARKER ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF CLEVE- LAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

DRIVING-GEARIN'G.

Application filed Jul 22, 1912. Serial narrates.

To all whom it may comm-n Be it known that we, CHARLES E. F. AHLM and Grazer, E. COCHRAN, citizens of the .United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio,

have invented a certain'uew and useful IIn-' provement in Driving-Gearing, of which the also driven, such wheels having a gear with which meshes a pinion havingauniveisal swinging action, so that it may be rotated by a shaft in fixedbearings and still drive the gear irrespective of the position of the wheel. Such system of gearing is shown, described and claimed in Patent No. 875,892, granted January 7, 1908, to Tracy V. Buckwalter. We have found that, with this type of driving gearing, there is a considerable Wear between the pinion and the gear; for, as the gear swings back and forth in steering the vehicle, such movement causes first one corner and then the other of the pinion to become Worn.

- The object of our invention, is to provide suitable protective means by which the wear is avoided and the pinioncaused to run true with reference to the gear, irrespective of the position of the latter. We have accomplished this by providing a shroud carried centrally by one of the gear members and occupying a groove in the other. This shroud maintains the teeth 'of the pinion and gear in proper parallel relation without interfering with the swinging or tipping of each member. We have found it preferable, particularly when the gear is an internal one, to carry the shroud in the gear and to form the cooperating groove in the pinion, but it is to be understood that we are not limited to mounting the shroud in the gear in preference to the pinion.

In the drawings, which clearly illustrate our invention, Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly sectional of an automobile construction having steering wheels with internal Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

gears driven by universally mounted pinions, the gears and pinions being equipped with our invention; Fig. 2 is a detail, being a vertical section through the pinion and cooperating gear; Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partlysection'al, of a portion of the driven gear-and the driving pinion, the plane o f' the section being ofiset so that the gear'is shown in elevation, while the pinionis'in central section.

As shown in Fig. l, 10 represents a suitable axle frame, which carries the pivoted axles and their wheels and carries also the driving gearing therefor. This frameis suitably connected by means not shown with depending members 11 from a platform or chassis frame 12. The vehicle wheels are designated 15. Their hubs 16 are mountedon short axle sections 17 whichproject from a swinging block 18 journaled vertically in bearings 13 and 14 in the frame 10. A suitable steering knuckle on the block 18 and connecting rod 19 furnish means for turning the wheel to steer the vehicle, aswill be well understood.

To drive the Wheel, we mount therein an internal gear 20, with which meshes a pinion 21 which is suitably mounted on the end of one of the drive shafts 22 or 23. These shafts stand in alinement, the inner ends being connected by suitable difierential gearing within the casing 24. This gearing is driven by suitable means, as, for example, by the motor 25. The shaft sections 22 and 23 are suitably 'journaled, in housings 26 carried by the upper portion of the main frame 10.

The construction so far described should be taken as illustrative of any suitable embodiment of a driven gear and a meshing driving gear which are designed to partake of a swinging movement about other axes than those of rotation. In order to allow this swinging movement to take place,.the pinion 21 is mounted by'a universal joint on the shaft 22or 23. The universal joint connection is effected by an intermediate block 30 which is pivoted at diametrically opposite points 31 to the pinion proper, while, at two other diametrically opposite points, which are ninety degrees from the points 31, this block is connected with the shaft 22 or 23. These connections are conveniently accomplished by forming trunnions on the block 30 which fit intoblocks 3% held in recesses in-the inner face of the pinion. The block is conveniently connected with the shaft by the pin 35, this pin passing through the square end of the shaft and being itself held thereto by the tapered pin 36, shown in Fig. 3.

From the above construction, it will be seen that when the shaft 22 or 23 is rotated, the pinion rotated thereby drives the gear 20, and the connected wheel 15, and such driving does not interfere with the steering movement of the wheel about the axis of the journals 13 and 14-, which is in line with the center 'of the pinion. Such swinging, however, has a tendency to cause the teeth of the gear to bind on the teeth of the pinion.

hat is to say, when the steering wheel turns in one direction, the pinion teeth on one corner thereof tend to grind on the gear teeth, thus wearing both the gear teeth and the pinion teeth; then, when the steering wheel swings in the opposite direction, the wear comes on the other corner of the pinion teeth. The result is that both the pinion and gear becomaundesirably worn.

' We havefound that we can prevent the undesirable wear without interfering with the efiiciency of the drive, or the ease of steering, by mounting a shroud-centrally in the driven gear and'allowing it to constantly occupy a peripheral groove in the pinion. In each of the views the shroud is designated 40. It consists of a ring, split at %1., (Fig. 3)and forced into a groove made in the gear in the central plane thereof. When in position, the shroud is held in place, for example, by pins 43 and as passing transversely through the teeth of the gear and through the shroud near its end. The innor peripheral edge of the shroud is preferably mounted.

45 indicates the central peripheral groove which is occupied by the shroud. The actionof the shroud in the groove, while not introducing additional friction of material amount, does maintain the pinion teeth parallelwith the engaged teeth of-the driven .gear. As will be seen from Fig. 3, the

shroud always occupies several teeth of the pinion, so that the desired alinement is necessarily maintained. 7

Having thus described our invention, what we claimis:

1. The combination of a wheel mounted to be swung about an axis transversely to its axis of rotatioinan internal gear on said wheel,'a pinion meshing with said gear, a shaft, 2. universal joint connection between the pinion and shaft, and a shroud carried by one of said meshing members and occupying a groove in the other to prevent the pinion digging into-thegear.

2. The combination of a wheel mounted to rotate and to be swung on an axis at right angles to its axis of rotation, a gear carried by said wheel, a pinion meshing with said gear, a driving shaft, a iuiiversal joint between the pinion and driving shaft, and a shroud located in. intermediate position on one of the meshing members and occupying a corresponding groove in the other member.

3. The combination of a wheel, means for swinging it about an axis at right angles to its axis of rotation, a gear. on said wheel, a shroud carried by said gear and projecting beyond its pitch line, and a universally mount-ed pinion adapted to mesh with the teeth of the gear and having a peripheral groove occupied by the shroud.

"I. The combination of a driven gear, a driving pinion therefor, a driving shaft for the pinion, a universal joint connection between the pinion and its shaft, and a positioning device for the gear and pinion comprising a shroud carried by one of such members and occupying a groove of the other member which is as deep as the teeth thereon, said shroud extendin' substantially to the base of said groove.

5. The combination of a Wheel, an internal gear carried thereby, a shroud seated therein and consisting of a split ring held in a groove in the face of the gear, means for swinging'said wheel about an axis at right angles to its axis of rotation, and a universally mounted pinion codperating with the gear and having a peripheral groove adapted to coact with said shroud.

6. The combination of an internal gear, a shroud seated in a groove in the middle of the face of the gear, said shroud consisting of a split ring projecting toward'the axis of the gear beyond the face of the teeth, and a universally mounted pinion cooperating with the gear and having a peripheral groovein the middle'of its face, said groove extending inwardly as far as the base line of the teeth of the pinion.

In testimony whereof, we hereunto aflix our signatures in the presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES E. F. AHLM.

CLYDE E. COCHRAN.

Witnesses:

ALBERT H. BATES, BnnnNAN B. Wnsr. 

